Repent America is a southeast Pennsylvania antigay organization whose leader, Michael Marcavage, hopes a future fundamentalist federal government will make homosexuality punishable by execution.
Repent America members have been arrested numerous times for commandeering and shouting down city council meetings, public festivals, even baseball games. (Previous XGW coverage.)
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, an organization of avowed pro-violence socialists called Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action apparently decided Dec. 6 to give Marcavage’s group some of its own medicine: Seven PARA members caused a disturbance outside the home of Repent America activist Linda K. Beckman, who had spent 10 days in jail for her own efforts to thwart police and disturb the peace in Philadelphia.
Like Repent America and its supporters (including Exodus International), Anti-Racist Action is anti-tolerance.
The Anti-Racist Action web site promotes warfare against opposing ideologues — and (in Ohio) against police who get in the way of that war. Here’s a sample ad for the site. Note the human hand brandishing a lit petrol bomb:
Repent America disturbs the peace and incites police action in order to achieve arrest. PARA employs a similar strategy. Let’s compare the two groups’ tactics.
Repent America disrupts public events by using megaphones to drown out the event with fundamentalist condemnations and self-righteous songs. Sometimes they seize control of the podium and microphone, and refuse to allow others to speak. Then they resist arrest.PARA allegedly shouted foul language and taunted Beckman to come out of her house and fight. One PARA member who allegedly slugged a police officer was arrested. After failing to post bail, 26-year-old Jason Robbins was hauled off to a county prison.
Marcavage told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his group shouldn’t be treated the way it treats others: “You can’t be chanting profanities and having signs with obscene messages. That’s not protected by the First Amendment.” Repent America’s tactics aren’t protected, either. In fact, Repent America strategically chooses to violate others’ freedom of speech and association in order to get arrested and gain the publicity that it seeks.
Ex-Gay Watch opposes the disruptive shoutfests and anti-police activities of both Repent America and PARA. But, since Exodus supports Repent America’s warfare and voices insincere opposition to their publicity-seeking arrests, I trust that Exodus will (in all fairness) applaud PARA’s “free speech” rights as well.
Repent America, with its endless emulators is frequently the only Christian group gay people ever see. Or ever meet in public. Which says a great deal. About what, I suspect I am better off not saying.
The horse stopped breathing, Dale 😉
David
David, thanks. You responded with grace where I might have been snide or actually tried to respond (a pointless effort).
While I don’t condone the actions of PARA, I don’t condemn it either. It doesn’t bother me that these actvists harass members of Repent America. Marcavage lost all validity to complain about this situation as well. Shame on him to complain.
Remind me. Is Marcavage’s Repent America the group that tried to disrupt the Philadelphia gay pride festival a few months ago?
If so, to quote an old Boston saying, what goes around, comes around.
Marcavage went after a gay and lesbian film festival in Philly, not pride (yet).
He also has made scenes at baseball games that have gay night.
Marcavage and his entourage with their bullhorns, signs, and banners have been at every gay public event in Philadelphia for the last few years. This year there were three events that I’m aware of in addition to the baseball game: Equality Forum in April, Pride Festival in June, and OutFest in October. My partner and I attended all except the ball game. At OutFest one of their guys finally figured out why the siren kept going off on his bullhorn – my partner was discreetly flipping the switch. That’s how close we were.
Marcavage creates disruption and law suits wherever he goes. He’s even been thrown out of town council meetings in suburban Lansdowne where he lives, and then filed a law suit. The American Family Association has provided some legal services to him. It’s lots of self-promotion. He’s trying to make a name for himself among the Christian Fascist crowd.
Richard
If Repent’s been to every event in philadelphia for the past few years…
I’ve heard tale of a new sound system being developed for police use, supposedely it’s capable of generating sound so loud you can understand human speech from it three miles away. Perhaps set one up in the back for a future Repent America strike?
If ‘Repent America’ shows up at any other LGBT event, I sure hope PARA comes as well.
I neglected to mention that PARA counter-protested at all three public events this year. They engaged in competitive shouting and tried to keep Marcavage’s entourage surrounded with their own signs. The gay crowd mostly seemed to ignore the whole thing.
Richard
I’ve been at most of the pride events that Repent America has targeted. My church, Imago Dei MCC, acted as a “buffer” between the protests and crowd. We worked to keep the GLBT crowd calm and away from Repent America. We followed Repent America everywhere they went and encouraged people to ignore them and informed folks of what their literature was about. We were working to keep RA from getting themselves or anyone else arrested, making video tapes of confrontationes, etc as they use this for fund-raising. And yes, PARA was there as well. They are very young, very hurt by this hatred and they are acting on their conscience. While I do not agree with them on everything, I admire them for sticking up for themselves.
Marla,
While Repent America would never think so, it sounds to me like you were doing “God’s work”, being a peacemaker and spreading good news. Thanks.
I hate to say it, but if the cops aren’t going to stem their tirades, the gays should make use of what is generally referred to as “self-help.” I could post a number of suggestions, but I’d be banned.
Government has the right under the 1st amendment to regulate speech–and how the speech is conducted–regarding time, place & manner, as long as the regulation is content neutral. If Repent America wanted to get a permit for another place and/or another time, they could have done so. As it was, they were doing nothing more than disturbing the peace.
The gays at the fest should have followed them back to their dwellings and ranted against them through megaphones into the wee hours of the morning. Free speech, according to Repent America.
Raj said:
I could post a number of suggestions, but I’d be banned.
Don’t you mean that your speech would be “regulated”?
David
ReasonAble at December 22, 2005 05:46 PM
No.